Fire's Song

by J E Mueller

  They set me down and I heard more conversation. The healing was still in full affect.

  “Do you think we can save her?” someone asked.

  “Like hell if I’d give up,” Lee replied.

  “Yes,” Emmyth replied more calmly. “She made it back here none the worse, her magic is stable, and normal blood flow is returning. Continue to follow my lead. It’s going to be a long hour, but after that we can move her back home.”

  “Just an hour? She’s worse off than that,” someone snorted.

  “I’ve healed her three times now. Follow my lead and I promise it’ll be an hour.” Emmyth replied coolly.

  “I believe you,” Lee said softly. “And she hears us. I can feel her responding. She’ll make it.” I had no idea how he had picked up on that, but I was glad he did. “No more demon fighting for you, Key.”

  “You can debate that when she’s better.” Emmyth laughed without humor. “She’d have been fine if her father hadn’t come back to try and finish things off.”

  “The Mad King? That would complicate things,” Lee sighed in understanding.

  “She’s the Mad King's daughter?” someone asked.

  Lee explained the story slowly, skipping parts no one needed to know, and explained how we had reached this point to begin with. Some already knew, but not all.

  It was weird to hear him explain things, but it gave me something to concentrate on. My story from another perspective.

  Finally the hour was up and Emmyth said they could move me back to safety. Lee and Emmyth kept their hands on me for another moment.

  “Key, can you respond?” Emmyth asked.

  “No.” I replied in a soft and raspy voice. It hurt to talk.

  “We’re going to put you on Lee’s back. Will that be okay?” Emmyth asked.

  “Yes.” Probably not. Moving sounded like a painfully bad idea.

  “All right, the shifting will probably hurt but your magic is still a bit out of control so I have to hold you okay.”

  “Kays…” I replied. What did that mean? Oh. I was probably out of control again. Able to kill without meaning to.

  It had felt like my magic had left me completely earlier. Being near death, closer to the veil than ever before, had made it seem like everything was gone. In a way I was glad to be wrong. I had come to terms with my magic. I’d worry about the flare outs when I could move again.

  Somehow they made it work. The walk home was long and I slept through most of it. I had no idea how he carried me the entire way, but I was glad it was him.

  Chapter 41

  I had no idea what time it was when I awoke. A slowly dying lantern was on an end table and there were no windows in this room. Lee was asleep by my side though, so whatever was going on probably wasn’t too terrible.

  That was a welcome change.

  My head hurt a lot and my once broken arm and leg stung badly, but it appeared those were now mended enough for me to move them. The only real complaint I had was a sharp thirst and a very sore throat. Carefully, I shook Lee awake. I figured it was better to get up with me than let him worry about where I had gone.

  “Oh, you’re up.” He yawned. “How are you feeling?”

  “Thirsty,” I confessed. “And sore, but really thirsty.”

  “Let’s see if you can walk first. If not, I’ll get you something to drink.” Lee said, getting up and helping me off the bed.

  It hurt. My leg hurt a lot more than I thought it would when I put pressure on it. My face gave me away.

  “I’ll get you some water.” Lee nodded.

  “I want to come,” I argued and tried putting less pressure on it. It still hurt too much but I wanted to see where we were.

  Lee shook his head and turned around. “Hop on.” He bent down so I could get on his back.

  I climbed on. “Where are we, anyway?”

  “Back at the Order’s base. Don’t worry, we touched base with Kegan so she won’t kill us the next time we stop in.” Lee laughed. “She scares me more than demons.”

  “Agreed.” I smiled as we headed out of the room.

  Lanterns lined a long hall. We seemed to be somewhere in the middle of this place.

  “The basement is mostly rooms and offices,” Lee explained. “Off the main floor is the dining hall and kitchen. We’ll have to go up two sets of stairs.”

  “Okay.” I looked around, trying to map out this place, “I’m surprised they kept me here.”

  “Master Aaron said he made a promise he intended to keep.” Lee explained. “By the way, I’m never letting you make plans on your own again.”

  “It was good though! No one saw my father coming back.” I suddenly remembered my dream, “Though I guess I did have a weird dream about him the night before, so there’s that. Still wasn’t expecting it.”

  “He wanted your soul? Why would yours matter?” Lee asked curiously. “There’s theories but no one knows for sure.”

  “Oh yeah, I guess not having mine was holding him back. Like an unfinished deal or something. Without mine he couldn’t rise in the ranks and if someone else got it, they could lord it over him. It was crazy,” I told him as we reached the training room level. “Tell me about rescuing your mother.”

  “Mother’s fine and well. It was surprisingly easy with Tella’s help. Tella was able to ask one of the spirits there, and of course most of them want to do whatever they can to make life harder for the demons, so she was able to lead us directly there. Just before we got there I felt your energy. It was confusing, but I checked and it was certainly you. Right after that another spirit stopped Tella, and Tella said she knew this one. Julianna or something like that.

  “Anyway she confirmed you needed help and we split up. There was apparently no one guarding my mom anymore because of a commotion and I knew it had to be from something that was going on with you. So Tella took the lead with four at her side and I took the other three. Never seen Tells so excited to lead something. Though she was mad later that she didn’t get to rescue you.”

  “I want to say she’ll get over it, but she may have an opportunity some day.” Hopefully my luck would change. “Julianna is my mother. She never crossed over and has been following me around since we first went to visit my family.”

  Lee laughed. “I don’t know how you’ve managed to resolve all your conflicts with your family.”

  “I don’t know about resolved.”

  “The Mad King is confirmed dead,” Lee replied as we entered the dining hall. He set me down at one of the first long tables. “So that matter is completely over.”

  “Good.” I smiled. Everything hurt, but if the Mad King was gone for good at least that battle was won. It meant everything to me that he had finally fallen.

  “I’ll be just a moment,” Lee assured me as he went off in search of some water.

  The dining hall seemed rather large to me. Six fairly long tables filled the main part of the area and two smaller tables on a raised platform stood at the head of the room. As I looked back Lee returned with a pitcher of water, two glasses, and Emmyth.

  “It’s good to see you up,” Emmyth said with a smile.

  “Every time someone says something like that I worry I’ve been out for three months,” I replied honestly.

  “It’s only been two days. Healing bones takes a lot of energy out of the healer and the person being healed,” Emmyth explained.

  I glanced at Lee.

  He shrugged. “It was a good lesson. Never know when that’ll come in handy again.” He poured us each a glass of water.

  “Hopefully no time soon. I’ve never heard a mother lecture anyone so much as yours,” Emmyth jokingly complained.

  “Where is Juni, anyway?” I asked.

  “She wanted to stay with a friendlier crew and is now with Celia,” Lee replied. “I think she just likes her more right now. She can’t make pacts and dive into a lower realm to complete a crazed rescue mission.”

  “I’m not sure which of us you're
talking about.” I laughed.

  “Tella’s on the list too. We’re all in trouble right now,” Lee teased. “She’ll be happy when we can get her home.”

  “So this pact you made…” I looked at him and took a long drink of water.

  “It’s a short term contract. I have to do some demon slaying for the next three years. One month on, one month off give or take.” Lee replied honestly. “I’ve no doubt you’ll be wanting to travel with me. I’ve heard you’ve been practicing?”

  “Yes. I got in a lot of practice in a short amount of time. It helped a fair bit.” I responded. Everything I had learned recently I did put into use.

  “Either way you’ll both need a lot more practice,” Emmyth teased. “At least everyone made it out all right.”

  “I feel like that’s all the Order ever says. Lost a limb, but no big deal, everyone’s all right.” I joked back.

  “Oh gods, yeah that did happen like two years ago. The hand puns were terrible. I can’t even fight as well as Dexter now. He really took his game up six notches,” Emmyth replied lost in his own memory.

  “No thank you. The scars are enough for me.” I glanced at my arms. They looked pretty bad, but most would probably disappear without leaving me even more scarred.

  “Want to hear the best news though?” Lee asked excitedly.

  Emmyth gave a strong clap. “Let’s hear it. Bring on the good news!”

  “What’s going on?” I asked, confused.

  “There was a lot going on when I finally made it to you,” Lee explained. “You were near dead, worse than what most said could be healed.”

  “Not that that stopped eight of us from trying,” Emmyth interrupted.

  “Anyway, so by the time we could start trying to heal you, your magic had dwindled and was unstable to the point almost being gone. When we finally got you stabilized, none of us noticed that your cursed magic was gone.”

  “What?” I asked, confused and feeling very much like myself. The warmth of my magic was clearly still there.

  “You’ve got your fire magic, and for a few moments while you stabilized it was out of control… But in a good way. With your weakened state it was finally able to destroy the curse. You just have strong elemental magic now. No curses, no more being extra attractive to demons. It wasn’t until we got in and those not involved saw you that the connection was made,” Lee finished excitedly.

  I glanced at my hands as if that was where my magic was kept. “I truly feel no change.”

  “Do you feel like you're controlling it, or is it just sitting there waiting to be used?” Lee asked slyly smiling.

  It dawned on me that I wasn’t controlling it. There was no effort there, not because I was used to it, but because there was no effort to be made.

  My eyes widened. “It’s gone!” I just about shouted.

  “Yes, it is.” Lee smiled.

  “When you’re well enough we’ll have a true celebration, Order of the Black Violet style!” Emmyth cheered.

  I laughed. “I cannot wait to tell my family this… though I should probably leave out most of the details…”

  Lee chuckled. “Though Zarek might be ready for a good tale like that, I agree. Keep it toned down for the rest of them.”

  The next couple of days were a cycle of resting and healing followed by working on walking and moving my arm to rebuild my muscle and strength. Tella was a frequent visitor and helper, not having a need to train constantly. When I finally felt well enough to walk a reasonable distance, I made to visit Juni and Celia.

  They fussed over me for a few moments, making tea and getting us comfortable in the living room. Then came the questions and the scolding. That much I was expecting and endured willingly. It hadn’t been the best set of decisions ever made but I had no regrets in what I chose and the outcome had still been favorable.

  Afterwards I made my way with Tella’s aid back to Kegan’s for a good dinner. She asked about what happened and I told her. Much to my surprise, she approved of my plan.

  “The best plans are either loved by everyone or hated by everyone.” Kegan shrugged, picking up my empty plate.

  “I can see how that’s possible.” I nodded. “But why do you like it?”

  “It was to the point.” She shrugged again. “It needed to be quick, no time to dawdle and worry if the others were okay or not. You knew they’d be fine. No questions. While it was dangerous for you, a situation being dangerous for one is better than it being dangerous for many. And that’s something my husband knew well. Still support those facts.” She gave a firm nod and took the dirty dishes away.

  “That awesome.” Tella smiled. “Kegan liked your plan. I bet that's a tough accomplishment.”

  Laughing I agreed, “That is probably why so many come to her for advice.” I felt proud of myself. It was nice knowing someone had agreed with the idea.

  “What do you think you’ll do now?” Tella asked.

  “I don’t know if I’ll ever have an answer for that question, honestly. What about you?” I asked instead. While a lot had changed for me, everything had changed for her.

  She shrugged. “There’s someone else who can talk to ghosts in the Order. They’ve offered to help teach me what they know. I might be able to help ghost cross over. I think that’s what I want to do. I don’t think all that demon slaying stuff is what I want for me, but it’s been fun.”

  “You’ve got ages to decide anyway.” I smiled.

  “So do you! You’re not that old.”

  “I’m glad we both agree on that.” I nudged her. “Don’t rush your decisions and learn everything you can while we’re here.”

  “I plan on it… and it’s not a bad trip here. Maybe we can visit?” She looked hopeful.

  “There’s no way they’ve seen the last of us,” I promised her, “And we’re stuck here at least another week before I will be well enough to travel.”

  When we finally made our way back, walking was getting very difficult. Lydia greeted us moments after we walked in.

  “I heard rumors you were out and about,” she said happily to me before smiling at Tella.

  “I still hate you for never telling me any of this.” Tella pretended to be insulted.

  “Whatever. You could talk to spirits this entire time and never said a word.” She held up her hand and looked stern for a moment before they both broke into laughter.

  “Go off with your friend,” I encouraged Tella.

  “Don’t you need help still?” Tella looked conflicted.

  “I’ll be fine. Go,” I insisted and watched them dash off.

  I slowly made my way to the balcony. For once it wasn’t filled with people training or milling about. It was quiet, and late enough that dinner was over, but not so late that people weren’t still hanging out and enjoying one another's company.

  It amazed me how many people were here. I had asked once before and found out that forty-five people regularly lived here, and that one hundred and eight people were in this order alone. It seemed like a lot, but spread throughout the kingdom, it still wasn’t enough for all that was always going on.

  “What’s on your mind?” Emmyth asked, joining me at the railing.

  “I was thinking about how large this group is, and yet, so small at the same time,” I replied glancing over at him. “And how I am not ready to tackle so many stairs. I’ve really got to stop this near dying thing.”

  “Let me know how that goes for you.” He chuckled. “At any rate, there’s no way Lee’s going to be given any missions alone for a long time. Hopefully by that time, you’ll be up to par enough that it won’t matter anymore.”

  “That’s a reasonable goal,” I agreed. “Until then.”

  “Until then what?” Lee asked, joining us.

  “I’ll be practicing so I stop almost dying.” I replied, feeling determined.

  “Good plan,” Lee agreed eyeing me carefully. “How was visiting my mother?”

  “She was mad at me, but happ
y to see me. She can’t wait until we’re ready to go back home. I think she’s ready for a more normal life again.”

  “I can’t say I blame her.” Lee sighed. “You know, overall I think this was a good decision. We’ll see where it leads.”

  “You know, I’ve worked my entire life to find an end to this curse,” I said gazing off into the empty training room. “I’ve no idea what to do now. I’ve never had any other long term goals.”

  “How about sheep?” Lee asked.

  I looked over at him and rolled my eyes. “Not sheep.”

  Lee pretended to be shocked. “Not sheep? What is this world coming to?”

  Emmyth stared at us in confusion.

  “You’re not missing anything,” I said to him.

  Lee laughed. “He’s clearly missing everything. Having sheep is the most important goal in life.”

  “You’re both insane.” Emmyth shook his head, chuckling, “How about we just team up and see how things go from there?”

  “I’m down for that,” Lee agreed.

  “This could be a good team. We’ve got the awesome up and coming newbie,” I motioned to Lee, “The respectable warrior.” I pointed to Emmyth. “And then of course me, the one most likely to get injured.”

  “Sounds like a good balance.” Emmyth laughed, nudging me with good humor. “Here’s to the new golden trio.” He held a fist up.

  “Here, here!” Lee cheered.

  Laughing, I joined in.

  Whatever was to come next, I’d be ready, and we’d conquer it.

  Acknowledgements

  There were so many wonderful people involved directly and indirectly in this process and you are all awesome. I couldn’t have done this without you.

  Aud and Liz, thank you so much for being true friends and pointing out all the problem areas. Your advice helped shape this book into what it is today. Show, don’t tell!

  Andrew Michaels thank you for the extra support. I never expected you to beta read this more than once. It has been great having your enthusiasm. It really did help get me through those final edits.